Koh Lanta Thailand
Imagine a perceived blogging expert within their field.
The individual covers a specific topic thoroughly based on the one post that you read.
But the blogger published the post three years ago.
You visit the home page.
When did the blogger last publish a post?
The pro published their last post six months ago.
Wait a second.
Quite a bit occurs within a six month time frame. How can he or she be an expert if the individual did not keep you updated over the prior half year? You lose a dizzying volume of information during the stretch. How can this blogger be credible? How can they be an authority? Not blogging for six months proves one thing: you fell asleep at the blogging wheel.
Can someone claim expert status if the individual does not alert you to the latest and greatest news concerning their niche?
Does the individual diminish their topical authority by losing relevance?
You bet they do.
Blogs are news portals. Do you trust news sites that publish new content every half year?
Blogging is a little different. Publishing one post weekly keeps readers abreast of a niche. Publishing every two weeks pushes it but still updates readers in a timely fashion. Publishing a blog post monthly misses the blogging boat. How many significant changes occur within any niche during 30 days? A hell of a lot, that’s how many occur!
Topical Authority and Timeliness
Nobody accuses me of lacking the “timeliness” factor in topical authority terms.
I observe problems. I share solutions. I do so prolifically.
Currently I publish one new blog post daily to maintain relevance. Down the road I might publish a new post weekly.
Experts maintain relevance by publishing posts consistently.
Everyone else tends to flame out fast.
A few trusted authorities remain relevant with a less prolific approach until someone gobbles up their market share. That someone is any blogger who does not fall asleep at the wheel. Alert bloggers publish detailed content frequently to develop strong topical authority. As their star shines, others bloggers fade.
For example, I scoured a few top blogging tips blogs before going balls to the wall with my current daily publishing schedule. I have no doubts; these bloggers and their staff publish truly helpful content. But I spied an opportunity because few if any published practical blogging tips consistently.
One blogger last published a post years ago. Much has happened in the blogging tips niche over years. Another blogger updated a blog post months ago; the prior publish date occurred eight years before the update.
I am not condemning anyone. But it is tough for me not to organically seize topical authority in the blogging tips niche by publishing daily posts. I keep bloggers up to date with the latest and greatest blogging tips in a fast moving world. I do not believe a blogger who last published content in 2024 can make the same claim.
Before we proceed, I love their content. I admire their success. But prolific bloggers who hustle tend to take the mantle from skilled bloggers who pump the brakes for a bit too long.
Becoming a successful blogger hinges on spotting a gap in your niche. I saw this opportunity in the blogging tips niche based on a few high level pros who pulled back on publishing fresh, new, highly relevant content.
Be Prolific to Build Authority
Building topical authority means publishing timely content consistently. Perhaps you were the topical authority three years ago. But millions of people expressed a genuine interest in your niche during that time frame. Where did they turn? Updating old content is one way to solidify topical authority but not publishing fresh, new, timely content diminishes topical authority.
Imagine taking one step forward and two steps backward on the topical authority side of things.
Your post from 2024 looks excellent. Truly helpful! But damn…..dozens if not hundreds of new, important developments had to emerge from 2024 to late 2026. What happened during that time frame with your blog? Why aren’t you covering something every week or every two weeks?
You cannot be an expert if you do not blog consistently.
Most readers are highly interested in what you know now not what you knew years ago and updated recently.
Blogs are news.
Old news gets old fast. Updated old news may be accurate but a blog is a full body of work.
Updating old posts is like adding an addendum to old news in the eyes of Google. Sure the post seems relevant now but the aged permalink is certainly not a fresh, new permalink chock filled with fresh, new content published solely to tackle the pressing problems of the day.
In a world of ,
“What have you done for me lately?”Â
updating old content takes your blog only so far.
Publishing your latest post in 2024 proves that you were the expert two years ago but certainly are not the expert now.
The experts now are bloggers who publish new, truly helpful content consistently.
Controversial Statement Alert
Building topical authority is about quantity just as much as quality.
Before you condemn me for kicking you between the blogging thoughts, listen closely.
Publishing a high quantity of high quality content builds strong topical authority over years from a purely organic approach.
At the end of this year, you probably should publish at least 52 high quality, detailed, long form posts. Most bloggers deem this to be a high quantity of quality content.
At the end of next year, double that number to 104.
You never need to force it. You just need to blog consistently with an eye on quality.
As you blog consistently, you will morph into a topical authority because most bloggers quit too soon before publishing a high quantity of quality content. Most bloggers choose quality over quantity then quit because the piddly volume of quality posts generates little organic traffic and zero blogging income.
Humans thirst for timely content. The former top pros gradually lose readers who flock to your prolific blog through an organic progression. Former experts are the ones who resisted keeping readers current.
Again; this is no judgment but how the world works.
Do you check the news every six months? I don’t think so.
Certainly you never check the news every two years.
The blogger who publishes detailed, practical content weekly maintains topical authority.
Think of topical authority in terms of maintenance not something you gain then hold onto while idling.
Blogging never works that way.
Nor does life.
The saying goes like this: “Smart work beats talent when talent stops working diligently.”
The only way to maintain topical authority is to be prolific over an extraordinary number of years.
I created Blogging From Paradise in 2014.
700 plus blog posts later, here I am publishing helpful blogging tips.
Building topical authority requires the marathon approach not the frenetic sprint.
Nor do you maintain topical authority based on dazzling blogging work completed two years ago.
Now matters.
This is your blogging wake up call.
Publish your next post.
